Best PlacesSan Juan Capistrano, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Juan Capistrano, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
San Juan Capistrano ranks 509th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in San Juan Capistrano
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
San Juan Capistrano's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Juan Capistrano ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 327 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of cities
- Household income$150,607 median, better than 91% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 90% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of cities
- BikingBetter than 81% of cities
Where San Juan Capistrano ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in San Juan Capistrano
A household needs to earn about $262,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Juan Capistrano home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $150,607, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses San Juan Capistrano's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Juan Capistrano.
Who works in San Juan Capistrano, and how
Work in San Juan Capistrano centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of San Juan Capistrano and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in San Juan Capistrano, month by month
San Juan Capistrano sees roughly 327 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 73° | 63° | 56° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 66° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 61° |
Flying in and out of San Juan Capistrano
John Wayne/Orange County sits about 17 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.5 million passengers in 2025, with 80 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around San Juan Capistrano
Schools across San Juan Capistrano average a B−, better than 50% of cities.
Top middle schools
- Marco Forster MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Niguel Hills MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Newhart MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Tesoro HighA · 70% proficient
- San Clemente HighA− · 65% proficient
- San Juan Hills HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Juan Capistrano school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Juan Capistrano measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare San Juan Capistrano against the other 2,097 cities.
Who San Juan Capistrano suits
Retirees
The weather beats 99% of cities, health care access beats 65%, and it is quieter than 61%.
Common questions about living in San Juan Capistrano
Is San Juan Capistrano a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Juan Capistrano ranks 509th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Juan Capistrano expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,011,248. The overall cost of living runs about 50% above the national average. Set against a $150,607 median income, cost of living beats 58% of cities.
Is San Juan Capistrano safe?
San Juan Capistrano is safer than 46% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $406 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Juan Capistrano?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 69 with lows near 48. That works out to about 327 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of cities.
Is San Juan Capistrano good for families?
Schools beat 50% of cities, crime safety beats 46%, and childcare runs $1,493 a month.
Compare San Juan Capistrano with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Juan Capistrano. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Juan Capistrano represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
San Juan Capistrano detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Juan Capistrano: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Juan Capistrano: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Juan Capistrano: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Juan Capistrano: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Juan Capistrano detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.